Bradykinin decreases podocyte permeability through ADAM17-dependent epidermal growth factor receptor activation and zonula occludens-1 rearrangement

Recent data show that increases in bradykinin (BK) concentration contribute to the beneficial effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) treatment in chronic kidney disease. However, the possible role of BK in attenuated proteinuria, often seen in ACEI-treated patients, is not well studied. Here, we report that BK decreases mouse podocyte permeability through rearrangement of the tight junction protein zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and identify some of the major signaling events leading to permeability change. We show that BK2 receptor (BK2R) stimulation transactivates the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR transactivation is mediated by a disintegrin and metalloenzyme (ADAM) family members, which are required for both extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and EGFR activation by BK. Using a gene-silencing approach we observed that both BK-induced ERK activation and BK-induced permeability decrease in podocytes is attenuated by ADAM17 down-regulation, and we identified epiregulin (ER) as the EGFR ligand participating in ADAM-dependent BK2R-EGFR cross-talk. EGFR inhibition attenuated both ZO-1 rearrangement and BK-induced permeability decreases in podocyte. We propose that ZO-1 redistribution is an important element of BK-induced permeability change and the signaling events involved in ZO-1 rearrangement include transactivation of the EGFR via ADAM17 activation and ER shedding. Our data indicate that ADAM17 and the EGFR may be potential novel therapeutic targets in diabetic nephropathy and other chronic kidney diseases.

Essential role of c-Cbl in amphiregulin-induced recycling and signaling of the endogenous epidermal growth factor receptor

The intracellular processing of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) induced by epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) has been studied meticulously, with the former resulting in EGFR degradation and the latter in EGFR recycling to the plasma membrane. However, little is known about how other EGF family growth factors affect the trafficking of the EGFR. Additionally, although both EGF and TGF-alpha have been shown to effectively induce initial c-Cbl (ubiquitin ligase)-mediated ubiquitination of the EGFR, limited information is available regarding the role of c-Cblin the trafficking and signaling of recycling EGFR. Thus, in this study, we investigated the roles of c-Cblin endogenous EGFR trafficking and signaling after stimulation with amphiregulin (AR). We demonstrated that a physiological concentration of AR induced recycling of the endogenous EGFR to the plasma membrane, which correlated closely with transient association of the EGFR with c-Cbl and transient EGFR ubiquitination. Most importantly, we used c-Cbl small interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes and ac-Cbl dominant negative mutant to show that c-Cbl is critical for the efficient transition of the EGFR from early endosomes to a recycling pathway and that c-Cbl regulates the duration of extracellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK1/2 MAPK) phosphorylation. These data support novel functions of c-Cbl in mediating recycling of EGF receptors to the plasma membrane, as well as in mediating the duration of activation (transient vs sustained) of ERK1/2 MAPK phosphorylation.